Improvement in horse-collars



J. N. SCHMITZ.

HORSE-COLLAR. .Y Nq. 188,193. Patented March 6,1877.

JYI INVENTOR O I o O' 57% jp; ATTORNEYS N.PEERS, PHOTO-IJTHGRAPHER.WASHINGTQNVD. C;

' y lJOHN N. SCHMITZ, OF KILBCURN CITY, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-COLLARS.

Speciiioation forming part of Letters Patent No. 188,193, dated March 6,1,877; application lled January 20, 1877.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN N. SCHMITZ, ofKilbourn City, in the county of Columbia and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a new and valuable Improvement in Horse-Collars; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specication,and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a front view of myllame; and Fig` 2 is an inside view of my hame. Fig. 3 is a centralvertical sectional view of a modicatonof the upper connection of thecollar; and Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are detail views of the same.

This invention relates to horse-collars; and it consists in the peculiarconstruction and arrangement of the connecting devices at the top andbottom thereof, substantially as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Adesignates the hames of a horse-collar,to which are attached the pads B B forming the body of the collar; alsodraft-rings C C, and hamerin gs D D. Iclaim no novelty in thearrangement or attachment of the foregoing parts. The upper connectionof said collar is made by means of two curved leather incasing-strips,E, which are secured to the upper and under sides of 'two plates, F F,Figs. l and 3, that extend inward toward each other from said haines A,leaving.

a small space, f, between their proximate ends. E designates anadditional protecting layer of leather secured to the under side of E.The upper ends of hames A are constructed so that plates F can beattached thereto in two different ways. To effect this,plates Gr Gr areattached to the sides of the hames, as shown in Fig. l, and a similarplate or shield, H, is carried overv the top of each one of said haines,protecting the front thereof. Protecting-plates Gr are provided withperforatious g, which also extend through hames A from one of saidplates to the other. The front part of each plate H is in like mannerprovided with a vertical slot, h, which extends into its hame A beyondperforations g that communicate with it. Fig. 1 shows plates F providedwith clevises F' F', each pair of which embraces one of said haines.Each clevis is transversely perforated, so as to allow the passage of afastening-bolt through it and through one of the perforations g of haineA and its side-protecting plates G G. Fig. 3 shows the substitution forsaid clevises of perforated tongues I I, one of which is attached to themiddle of the outer end of each Withers-plates F. Said tongues set intoslots h and are fastened as before. This Inodication is chiey used wherethe draft is light. The above-described upper*v connection may be movedup or down on said hames A by shifting theattaching-boltsfrom the upperperforations g to lower ones, or the reverse,'thus practically varyingthe length of the collar. Fig. 4 showsv in detail one of saidWithers-plates F with perforated tongue I attached thereto; and Fig. 9shows similarly the other Iform of said plate having clevis attachmentF. The lower connection of said collar is made by a leather strip, J,which is attached to plates or bars K K. (Shown in detail in Figs. 7 and8.) The outer ends of said bars are provided with arms 7o k at rightangles therewith, which arms, respectively, pass through perforations llin the lower side of small 'guide-casings L L, which are rigidlyattached to haines A. Said casings are open on their upper side, andsaid bars K K1 set within them. Arnikis screw-threaded, so as to form abolt for the attachment of bar K to its casing. Arm k is made broaderand slotted at its outer end, so as to allow the passage through it ofthe free end of a small thong, K2, which is attached to one of saidhames A, whereby said bar K1 is detachably but firmly secured in itsproper position. The perforations through which arm k passes areelongated, as shown. Casings L L are shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6,and the perforations Z l are at least two in number in each casing, toallow the movement of said bars K K1 toward or from each other, therebywidening or narrowing the lower end of the collar.

The construction above described possesses a number of advantages. Amongothers, it allows the collar to be adjusted in size and shape to thedimensions of the horses neck on which it is to be applied. It allows anindependent upand-down motion of the sides of the collar as theshoulders are successively advanced, and thus, prevents Wear upon theanimals neck. The clevisfastening prevents the rolling of the collarwhen under heavy draft.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of leatherbow E,pla.;tes F F, and hames A A, saidplates and hames being attached substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. Hame A, provid ed with cross-perforations arranged in series, avertical slot in its inner face, and protecting-plates Gr G H, substantalily as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of leather strip J, bars K K1, casings L L', andthong K2, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have x hereunto subscrbed mynamoi'nV the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN N. SCHMITZ. Y

Witnesses:

J. BOWMAN, H. H. DRINKER.

